tutorials : Color Change Tutorial :
Step 1:Here we'll learn some useful techniques to change the color of an element of a photograph (in this example, clothes) realistically. Firs things first. After you pick your photo, fix it up a little. Do some color correction (on this photo of my friend Rachel, I'm doing to bare color correction minimum as the focus is elsewhere). I also removed the logo from her shirt, just because I don't own anything to do with Billabong and I don't want to get sued. |
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Next, select the entire outline of the element you're changing. Use the lasso tool (polygonal works best for those of us with a less-than-steady hand). Another good way to make a selection as precise as possible is to use the Quick Mask tool. See my tutorial about that. As stated, use the lasso tool and set feathering to somewhere between 3 and 5. If the edges are too crisp, it will look faked. You don't want your image to look like it's been colored in with a marker. |
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After you have all the parts selected, on the top bar go to Image / Adjustments / Hue/Saturation. In the dialog box, make sure the "Colorize" box is checked. Fiddle with the Hue bar until the selected area takes on a yellowish white quality, like an old photograph. Bring the Saturation slider down a bit too. You want to image to look colorless, but not completely desaturated. No color at all in the image gives it a newsprint-like quality and makes it look almost blue-black based, which makes the following colorizing techniques difficult. |
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Create a new layer on top of the photograph layer. Select the main color you want to change the element to and fill the selected shape (in the shape of the element) in. Deselect the entire image. If you used feathering, the new shape should have smooth, faded edges like the photo at right. |
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Now, the fun begins. Go to the layer transition dropdown menu at the top of the layer window. Experiment with the various options for layer transitions you have. Press the buttons at the right of this step. They're labeled to correspond with the layer transitions used on the image pictured. As you can see from the examples, there are many possibilities for what your new color can look like. It all depends on what the effect you're going for is. For realism, Multiply and Color often work best. However, in my example, I'm going with Darken. |
If you're 100% happy with the new color of your element, skip this step. --- Still with me? OK. Now, create a new layer on top of the entire image. Select the shape of the element again but this time, set the feathering to 0. Now that you have your base color layer to take care of the edging, you don't have to worry about jagged or unreal edges. After you've made your selection, choose another color. This can be anything you want. You can change the color of your image entirely (if your new color beneath this layer is yellow for example, this new layer's color can be blue, changing the element's new color to green). Or you can lighten or darken the initial color you chose. To lighten or darken, simply pick a color that is in the same swatch as your initial color but is either noticeably darker or (surprisingly enough) lighter. In this example, I chose to make the image subtly darker with this crimson. Another idea for this step is to duplicate your initial new color layer to strengthen the color you've already given it. Just doing this however can be a bad idea. For one thing, both color layers will be feathered, leading to a sort of halo-effect on your image (try it once to see what I mean). Now, this can be fixed if you simply delicately erase the edging on the top color layer. But the other thing to take into account is that if your new color is too loud, the image will definitely look faked. Bold colors are a sign of life, but strive for realism if realism is what you're going for.
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| Now, look carefully at your image.
If any of the color on the top layer does not match up with the color on the second color layer (or vice versa), take a paintbrush in the desired color to the desired layer and color in. Brushes that are small but not too small (between size 5 and 9, usually) and have a feathered, faded edge tend to work best for this procedure. And don't forget to utilize the zoom tool!
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In the same vein, now go back to your base color layer (the one over the photograph layer). Grab an Eraser. Pick a size, around 6 or 8, with a feathered edge like the paintbrush used above. Carefully trace around the outside of the shape whose color you're changing with the eraser. Use a light touch. Again, naturalism is key. If you mess up, just color it back in on either layer. You may in this process even discover parts of your image that need color that didn't have it before. |
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Now, study your image again. The color of whatever element you're changing is bound to have left a shadow or reflection on some part of the rest of your image. We need to rectify that now. For instance, in this photo, the original blue color of the shirt has left a light bluish hue on Rachel's cheek. It's subtle enough that you can't really see it until you look for it, but it's these kinds of inconsistencies that can bring an effect down and make it look phony. However, this is easily remedied. With the lasso tool (feather set to between 3 and 5), trace around the spot you want to fix. Now create another layer and fill it with the color that the shadow of your new color would probably cast. Bear in mind that you'll be using some layer transitions on this, so make the color you pick a little less bold than the actual color you're going for. |
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Fiddle with the layer transitions again on this new layer until you find something you like. I used Color Dodge here. Dodge tends to slightly lighten an image, so it can be a good standby for this purpose. |
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Aaaaaaaaaaaand...you're done! Yay! Click on the image at the near right to see the full result. This doesn't just work on clothing, either. You can do pretty much anything you want with these techniques. Click on the far right image to see another example. Go crazy!
Always be sure to use photographs that you have permission to use if you plan on doing more with them than make pretty desktop wallpapers for yourself. This beauteous photograph is used courtesy of Jake Voytko. Don't use his photograph, any of my photographs, or any part of my written or visual tutorials without my permission! Feel free to try this tutorial on your own though. Contact me if you would like to use this tutorial on your site. |
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